Will take up Alluri statue issue with Centre: Naidu

‘Telugus will never forget the freedom fighter’

Remembering a valiant warrior: Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu paying tributes to the statue of Alluri Seetarama Raju at Budameru centre in Vijayawada on Tuesday.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday said the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) would urge the Centre to install a statue of freedom fighter Alluri Seetarama Raju in the Parliament House premises in New Delhi.

Mr. Naidu was addressing the gathering after paying rich tributes to the Manyam Veerudu (hero of the jungle) by garlanding his statue at the Budameru Vantena centre in Satyanarayanapuram, marking his 120th birth anniversary celebrations.

He said the Telugu people would always remember Alluri for his exceptional valour.

Mr. Naidu said his government would reach out to tribal people and ensure their prosperity. “There are some superstitions among the community that we need to remove. The government has been trying to supply water through bore wells but they are relying on small streams, with disastrous consequences for their health,” he said.

Rampa revolt

Born on July 4, 1898, Seetarama Raju had led a revolutionary movement called Rampa revolt against the British to protect the interests of the tribals of East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts between 1922 and 1924.

Seetarama Raju fought against the 1882 Madras Forest Act which restricted free movement of tribal people in the forest, preventing them from engaging in their traditional podu agriculture system, which involved shifting cultivation.

He was gunned down by the British on May 7, 1924.